1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in preschool ride-on and/or pull or push toy vehicles, having a popper mechanism where a large number of balls or similar objects may be simultaneously propelled through a chamber formed by a highly visible transparent housing on the vehicle during movement of the vehicle.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
There is a prior art preschool pull toy, commercially designated as "Corn Popper", including a base having an upstanding transparent cover disposed above substantially the entire top surface of a base member. A plurality of round objects, such as plastic balls, are located within the chamber formed by the transparent cover and a recess is formed in the top wall of the base member to receive one or a few of the plastic balls. In addition, an axle having a crank portion thereon operates a push rod having a ball engaging head located within the recess and which engages one or more of the balls. As the toy is pulled by means of an outwardly struck handle, the rotating action of the crank on the axle will cause the push rod to be pulled downwardly against the action of a compression spring. Thereafter, the push rod is released for upward movement through the recess by the compression spring and engages one or a few of the balls to propel the same through the plastic housing. This type of action toy is more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,937,475, dated May 24, 1960, to Crawford.
There is another prior art preschool action toy in the form of a free-wheeling carriage having a seat thereon. This type of toy is adapted for a child to sit on and push the toy through movement of legs and feet. In addition, this preschool toy has a plate mounted on an upper portion thereof with a transparent semi-hemispherical plastic dome extending over the plate and a plurality of plastic balls located within the chamber formed by the plastic dome. Moreover, it is believed that this latter toy includes a popper mechanism which pops one or more of the balls into the chamber formed by the plastic dome as the child pushes the vehicle.
The primary disadvantage of each of these toys is that the ball ejecter mechanism, or so-called "popper" mechanism, is adapted to only eject one or a few of the plastic balls through the chamber formed by the transparent dome with each actuation of the actuator or ejector mechanism. Thus, the visual effect is significantly less than if all of the balls or a substantial number of the balls were simultaneously popped into the chamber, thereby rendering a much more dynamic visual effect.